


Not the Secret You Were Looking for

by knightinpinkunderwear



Category: Dexter (TV)
Genre: Bisexuality, Coming Out, Cussing, Date Night, Dinner, Explicit Language, Harassment, Homophobic Language, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Public Display of Affection, Season/Series 02, Stalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25927321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightinpinkunderwear/pseuds/knightinpinkunderwear
Summary: Early season two Oneshot where Doakes finds out a different secret (not drugs) while stalking Dexter.Requested by joji_is_trash
Relationships: Vince Masuka/Dexter Morgan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [joji_is_trash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/joji_is_trash/gifts).



> In this universe, Rita and Dex split mid to late season 1.  
> Dexter and Vince have been secretly dating since shortly before Batista got attacked by Rudy/Brian.

Dexter knew that Doakes had been tailing him. 

He'd been doing it for weeks. 

Dexter could not go _anywhere_ to be alone. He had almost no privacy anymore. Debra and Doakes both seemed to treat his life as a reality tv show they could tune into at any time they wanted without giving him much of any space to breathe. 

And sure, that scrutiny certainly kept him from killing and hunting his next victim, but it wasn't going to stop Dexter from living every other aspect of his life. And there were other aspects that he was starting to enjoy more and more.

He bowled almost every night. Firstly, because it was the epitome of harmless and suburban and it pissed Doakes off. And secondly, because it allowed him to spend time with his secret boyfriend (discretion due to their being co-workers and not a shame of sexuality). 

After Rita, he tried to find someone who might better understand his problems with empathy and morbidity, and he'd found that in Vince Masuka. 

Vince, who'd drunkenly confessed to flirting with him for at least three of the twelve years they'd worked together. Vince who had an iron stomach when it came to gruesome and gory crime scenes. Vince, who was not the best at getting along with or relating to others. 

But tonight Dexter was not headed to the bowling alley.

Tonight was the night. But not the kind of night that the Dark Passenger hungered for.

Tonight was the night to satisfy a different kind of hunger.

A hunger for companionship. A hunger for comfort from the empty numbness inside.

A hunger that Vince shared in.

This would be the second time Dexter's been to Vince's apartment. And the first time for him to come over as the Asian hypochondriac's boyfriend.

The first real date besides a bowling alley or sneaking a coffee break in the lab at work.

The first date where it would be just the two of them. Where he only needed to pretend for Vince. Where he only needed to pretend about being a killer, not about the emptiness and the loneliness.

He'd been looking forward to the reprieve so much that he only tried to shake his tail of Sergeant Doakes once and didn't check to see if he'd caught up when he'd parked.

No, Dexter didn't check from Sgt. Doakes's car as he parked his sedan. Instead, he breathed, appreciating the cool air with the hint of sea salt in the breeze. Vince's apartment wasn't on the water, but it still smelled of it.

In his excitement, he got to Vince's door quickly.

Maybe he was giddy about the idea of being cooked for, to have a special piece of Vince that no one else they knew got to see. Maybe he was giddy about the idea of a night that was just the two of them; no pretending to be nothing more than friends or coworkers, no worrying about onlookers.

He had a smile firmly planted on his lips the second he'd stepped out of his car, and he couldn't seem to stop it. Vince opened the door with a similar smile, fond and free and not pretending.

And it was the giddiness that pushed him to lean down as Vince rolled onto his tiptoes. A chaste kiss dizzy with collusion and fondness.

"You forget the wine?" Vince asked. Dexter blinked, looking down at his empty hands. Whoops.

"I left it in the car," he realized, bringing a hand to his forehead with a not quite smack but more a light thunk. "I'll be right back," he promised, turning to leave.

"You can save the hurrying for when you're facing me," Vince said, slapping his ass playfully,

"Behave," Dexter admonished over his shoulder, close to laughing from fondness.

"You gonna punish me if I don't?" Vince quipped back, Dexter could practically _hear_ the raised eyebrows and smirk on his face. "Ah, _shit_ the oven!" Vince muttered, fleeing into his apartment as Dexter took the stairs back down to his car for the bottle of sweet white wine. 

He retrieved the bottle and locked his car for the second time that night.

"So this is Dexter Morgan's big bad secret? That you're fucking gay?" The voice of his stalker spoke. Dexter turned, Doakes was two spaces (one normal, one handicap) away, leaning against his own car with a mildly predatory smirk. "And that freak, Masuka of all people," 

Dexter's smiled dropped. 

And the Sergeant looked so pleased with himself about it.

"It's not any of your fucking business Sergeant," he scowled, grip tightening around the wine bottle, the Dark Passenger screaming for blood to repay the insult, "-and _don't_ call my boyfriend a freak." 

But, of course, Doakes didn't back off. He couldn't let Dexter have anything nice or private in his life. He had to follow him everywhere and antagonize him at every chance to try and get the mask to slip again.

"What does he see in you anyway? I know he's a fucking weirdo, but why you? He got a kink for freakshows?"

"Back the fuck off," Dexter whirled closer, leaning into the Sergeant's personal space, the Dark Passenger clawing against the code and his better judgment like a hurricane.

"Or what? You'll hit me? That's assault of an officer," Doakes smirked, leaning forward and minimizing the little space left between them.

"And this is stalking and harassment," he rebutted.

"If you were gonna report me you'd have done it by now," Doakes knew him well and he hated that it would have been true. But Doakes had involved his boyfriend and that was where the line would be drawn.

"Have a nice night Sergeant, if you don't mind I'll return to my date now," he excused himself with the polite suburban smile that pissed Doakes off so much. He only made it two steps.

"You're not fooling me Motherfucker," the man called after him. He stopped again, once again turning to face his stalker.

"What? You think I'm pretending to be into men?" Dexter wanted so badly to just continue to walk away, but that brought on the possibility of Doakes following him up to Vince's apartment and he _did not_ want that or the uncomfortable situations it would bring. As much as he hated it, dealing with Doakes was the only way to get the confrontation from happening in a more inconvenient place and time.

"There's something seriously wrong with you-"

"That's a pretty backwards viewpoint, I didn't know you were so homophobic-" Dexter interrupted, face neutral and voice biting, hoping to finish the confrontation as quickly as he could. To escape back to Vince and the nice date night they had been cultivating.

"I don't give a shit who you fuck or who fucks you, psycho. And no, I don't think fucking guys is wrong, it'd be pretty fucking hypocritical of me if I did," Doakes took a few steps closer, leaning closer towards his personal space for what felt like the umpteenth time that night, "You're hiding something else, and I'm gonna find out what it is," Doakes promised, though it could probably be considered a threat as well. Doakes got in his car and gave him a mock salute.

Dexter blinked. Did Doakes just _come out_ to him?

Tonight was the night for a few more things than he planned apparently.

Dexter shook his head and retraced his steps back to Vince's door and into his boyfriend's apartment.

Dinner was salty and savory and Dexter had to admit that the sweet wine did compliment it in a nice way, even if he wasn't that partial to wine.

Dessert was even better. It was apparently Vince's specialty too; chocolate lava cake.

"A river of chocolate love that melts in your mouth," the shorter man waxed poetically, much to the taller's amusement. 

"Is that supposed to be romantic or sexual?" 

"It's up for interpretation," Vince answered and Dexter decided to leave it there.

The dessert was good. Vince hadn't been lying about his skill or about the description he'd given. It was helped along by the fact that Dexter had always had a soft spot for chocolate.

Chocolate kisses were also good. They sweetened the conversation about the transparency of their relationship. Which, for itself did not end up too much more bitter than the dark chocolate ganache filling in the cake.

Vince only let him leave because he'd only had two sips of the wine with dinner.

As he left, Dexter found that his stalker had left sometime during his date. He sighed in relief. He wasn't up for another confrontation. He already had to tell his sister about him and Vince. And knowing Deb, there would be some cussing and criticism involved, as well as a good bit of scolding about why he never told her about his interest in men.

There was only so much confrontation Dexter could handle in one night.

And the next day he and Vince were going public, so he needed to be ready for a hell of a lot more confrontations about his personal life and sexuality than he would ever like to address.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dexter tells his sister about his boyfriend and Vince and Dex go public.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one of those fics that you get halfway done with and realize that there is no way you can resist making a chapter 2.

Dexter unlocked the door. It caught on the chain when he tried to open it.

He should have expected it, but he had been preoccupied with the conversation he is about to have. He was still a bit removed from reality and a bit more in his head than he usually was. 

But he'd never had to come out to someone before. Well, someone who wasn't also coming out to him. 

He hadn't really gotten a chance to, Dorris died when he was fifteen and Harry was adamant on him dating girls. So he never brought it up.

He'd heard that it was hard. That it changed people's perceptions and could have some pretty extreme reactions. He kind of understood it, that people would feel betrayed that a person could keep such a big secret from them. But he also thought it was a bit of an overreaction, it wasn't nearly as bad as a secret and lie as "I kill people".

He wasn't worried about Debra being unsupportive of his sexuality, Debra was not actively homophobic or biphobic. It was more that he was worried that she would be upset that Dexter hadn't told her _sooner_. 

"Deb? Can you let me in?"

"Dex? The fuck are you doing out so late for?" She called, not approaching the door with any hurry. In her defense, it was getting late and it had been who knows how long since she last slept. 

"Um, I gotta talk to you about that," 

"Okay?" She said, opening the door. The bags under her eyes were a little better than yesterday, maybe she had gotten some sleep. At least she hadn't been on the treadmill. 

He closed and locked the door, carefully dropping his keys and wallet on the counter. 

"Well? Spill the fucking beans already," she gestured with her hand, impatient.

"Don't be mad that I didn't tell you this before, please?"

"What stupid shit did you get yourself into?"

"Deb, nothing's wrong," he sighed, a little insulted that she thought something was wrong.

"You only tell me things when they're going to shit," she did have a point.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to do better, I'm trying to talk normal brother-sister stuff," 

Deb gave him a funny look. He was sure that he didn't want to analyze it until after he'd gotten what he'd set forth to tell told. 

"I'm not only interested in women,"

"Not only women... you mean like David Bowie?" 

"Like David Bowie," he nodded after a second.

"So what? You're gonna come home with a boyfriend?" 

Dexter swallowed, nodding with his mouth pressed into a line and bracing himself for the explosion by the name of his sister.

"You're telling me this because you already have a boyfriend," Deb guessed, sounding only seconds away from scoffing and rolling her eyes in annoyance. At least it wasn't an explosion yet.

"You're getting good at the detective thing,"

"How long?" Deb asked, brushing off the compliment. Straight to the point.

"A month and a half," he said.

"When do I get to meet him?" she asked, plopping down on the couch hard enough that the cushions let out a huff.

"You already have," he responded, sitting with less plop and less huff.

"I already-... it's someone from Miami-Metro?!" 

"Yeah,"

"Who? Are they homicide?" she asked, switching into _protect brother_ or _judge brother's choices_ mode. They were very similar.

"Yeah,"

"It better fucking not be Doakes," Debra accused and he scowled. Doakes was not exactly pleasant company and Dexter was more in the habit of liking people who were not outwardly hostile.

"No, Deb, it's Vince,"

"Fucking _Masuka_?!" she looked like she thought he was joking.

"Yes, Vince Masuka," he said, trying not to be annoyed by her tone and that almost no one had any respect for his boyfriend.

"Then why was Doakes in the parking lot yesterday?"

"I also have a stalker," he admitted.

Deb blinked. _Are you fucking serious?_ Written all over her face. He tried to reply; _my life is weird_ with his own face and a shrug.

"Before you say anything, I'm reporting him first thing tomorrow," he held up his hands, mock surrender for the impending conflict.

"So, who else knows?"

"Just my new stalker, for obvious stalking-related reasons. I wanted to tell you first, you deserve that,"

"Fuck yeah I deserve it," 

He smiled, as he often found himself doing when Deb did something particularly Deb-like. 

"You're not a bad brother, you know that? I'm glad that you're the family I got, sure you've got issues with talking to people but you try, you really try, and you suck at being there for people but _God you try_ ," 

"Are you going to cry?"

"Fuck you, Asshole!" she shoved him, and he probably deserved it.

"Was I being insensitive?"

"Yes, you were, I'm sitting here trying to tell you how I appreciate all the shit you've put up with from me and trying to make up for all that awful shit I said about you in the past,"

"You don't need to apologize, Deb, if I didn't have to put up with you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself," 

"Gee, that's flattering," she said in deadpan.

"I guess I'm getting the couch tonight, then?"

"You're damn right you are, I can't let you go and crawl back into the closet!" 

Dexter blinked, "Uh-"

"I am allowed to make at least one joke about that," 

He smiled, despite himself. "As long as you don't start asking for fashion advice," 

"Bro, I mean this in the nicest way, but I would never ask you for fashion advice, your wardrobe is the most boring and plain someone can get while still wearing colors," 

"I value comfort and practicality,"

"Yeah, that's kinda obvious," she laughed, tossing his sleep shirt and shorts at his head.

* * *

"How'd it go with the sister?" Vince asked as he climbed into the blue truck (someday he would ask Vince about the realistic-looking lightning decal). 

"She wasn't as upset as I thought she'd be, she even made a closet joke," he replied, buckling his seatbelt and placing his work bag on his lap. 

"Was there a reason why Doakes was in the guest parking at my apartment last night?"

"Not a good one," Dexter took a breath, "He's across the street right now,"

"What-"

"See the parking for the condos?" He pointed, Vince looked. 

"What's the hell is going on?" his boyfriend demanded.

"He's stalking me, I'm reporting him as soon as we get in,"

Vince rolled his eyes. 

A moment of quiet. 

"How long?"

"Longer than I should have let it go on for," Dexter admitted as Vince slowed to a stop at a red light. 

Vince gave him a look, the _no, duh_ sort of look.

"The light's green," he started, "and I didn't do anything about it yet because I thought he'd get sick of my routine and stop on his own, but he didn't and I didn't draw the line until he threatened to bother you," 

"I am both flattered and horrified that I had to be involved for you to decided getting stalked wasn't okay," his boyfriend said, turning left. 

Dexter supposed that was a reasonable reaction.

The rest of the drive went by in peace.

"You ready?" Vince asked after he climbed out of his truck. (Which was a mildly comical site given the size difference between Vince and his vehicle).

"I guess, you?" 

"Yeah," 

"How exactly do we do this?" Dexter asked. "Besides just announcing it,"

Vince blinked. "I guess I didn't think of that," he shrugged, "Maybe we just stop acting discreetly?"

"Oye! What's with the carpool?" Angel called from across the parking lot.

"Just giving my boyfriend a ride," Vince called back

 _That's one way of doing it,_ Dexter thought.

"Socio, You're dating _him_?" Angel asked, giving him a pleading and confused look.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," Dexter said as Vince shouted " _Hey!_ "

"I am insulted that you would imply that my boyfriend wouldn't want to date me," the Asian hypochondriac proclaimed, wrapping an arm around his waist.

Angel gave him another confused and pleading look.

"I do like him," Dexter added.

The gossipy nature of Miami cops did help in their efforts to become public. They got a few weird looks and a few weirder questions.

It still felt good to be out, and not a secret. Because even if their relationship wasn't just a secret for the two of them to share it was still theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! 
> 
> If you have any requests for this pairing or Dexter being not-straight content just leave me a comment and I'll get back to you!  
> Mostly I am only writing AUs taking place in season 1 & 2 at this time. However, if your request is from a later season I'll consider writing it later :)


End file.
